Deal close: West Ham set to clinch club record £36million agreement

Slaven Bilic has claimed Dimitri Payet is “very close” to signing a new West Ham contract.

The Premier League club are ready to reward their star player with a stunning £36million deal just eight months after he moved to Upton Park.

Payet has been one of the outstanding players in the top flight in his debut season and talks on improved terms are now at an advanced stage.

A source has told Football Insider that the deal will make Payet the best-paid player in West Ham’s history, usurping the contract Andy Carroll signed when he joined from Liverpool.

The proposed five-and-a-half-year contract comprises a £68,000-a-week basic wage, £25,000-a-week appearance fee, £1million signing-on fee, plus supplementary bonuses, taking the total to around £125,000. If all the triggers in the deal are hit, it is worth an astonishing £35.8million.

Speaking at his media briefing on Thursday morning, Bilic said: “We are very, very close to signing because both parties have the same intention and that’s to stay at West Ham,’ said Bilic.

Done deal: Bilic is confident Payet will sign a new contract

“We will do everything to make that happen. In one hand every player has a price but he is happy and we are more than happy and I hope, and think he will be with us for a long time.”

Bilic has made it clear how much he values Payet, who joined in a £10.5million deal from Marseille last summer.

“The most important move is to keep your best players and Dimitri Payet is our best player, I have no problem whatsoever saying that,” the manager said on Monday. “And of course I would love to have him happy, long term, at the club.”